Dimapur district administration urged to take decisive action against extortionists

DIMAPUR — The Chakroma Public Organisation (CPO) and the Western Sumi Hoho (WSH) on Wednesday drew attention to the prevalence of extortion and the syndicate system in Dimapur, involving ‘unreported’ Naga political groups (NPGs), unions, associations, state agencies, as well as individuals.

“The burden imposed by these organisations has rendered life unbearable for the public and business community,” it said in a press release, and questioned the district administration as to how it has been allowed to operate freely and collect monetary contributions without any significant welfare activities being observed.

The CPO and the WSH also condemned an incident of extortion at the Dimapur Railway Station and called on the district administration to take decisive action against the perpetrators.

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The incident reportedly occurred on October 29, when a group of “unscrupulous individuals” intervened in the booking process of a one-tonne shipment of areca nut by a Naga farmers group (NFG) at the station. The group, posing as representatives of an unnamed “agency,” forced railway officials to halt the booking process, and insisted that all purchases be exclusively routed through them.

They then seized the parcels of areca nut and demanded a penalty of INR 2 lakh, equal to the value of the shipment. The NFG filed an FIR on the incident at the Government Railway Police Station on October 31.

Condeming such criminal activities, the two bodies urged the district administration to “promptly take decisive and unwavering action against these redundant organisations” and to “swiftly ban such fabricated entities” in order to restore order in the state. They also called on grassroots organisations such as GB unions, chairmen federation, ward and colony councils to take proactive measures in their respective jurisdictions to eradicate the menace.

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